Minutes of the Blackburn Rovers Fans’ Forum Zoom Meeting Monday 11th January 2021 – 6.30pm

Present – Fans’ Forum Present from BRFC Tris Stock Lynsey Talbot Mike Graham Steve Waggott

John Wareing Mark Hitchen Peter Bolton Ray Williamson Jennifer Lewis Alan Birkbeck Savio Mathias Chris Lofthouse Mushtaq Khan Neil Mellin Bharat Parmar Neil Duckworth

1. Apologies for Absence Jenn Bellamy Terry Crawford

2. Matters Arising from the Minutes of the Previous Meeting 1st December 2020

• Ewood Park Maintenance & Appearance JW asked what plans the club had to improve the state of the Ewood Park pitch. SW said that there had a number of issues causing the deterioration in the state of the pitch this season. Firstly there had been a much shorter close season and this had been followed by an exceptionally wet Autumn. The increase in the number of substitutes meant that there were now 40 players warming up and down on match days on the pitch before, during and after the game adding more wear and tear to the surface. Finally during the recent cold snap resulted in the first team having to train on the pitch two days prior to the Doncaster game due to frozen pitches at Brockhall.

SW stated that there was little the club could do during this time of the season and being mid-Winter but that plans were being looked at for the usual full renovation of the pitch during the coming Summer close season.

MH asked whether the state of the pitch could have contributed to the high number of injuries this season. SW replied that it was more likely due to the intensity of the season with regular midweek matches although the current state of the pitch is not at the usual level that our players are used to.

3. Update on Fans Attending Games

TS asked whether there were any updates on arrangements for fans to return to Ewood. SW replied that during the current lockdown nothing would change. The club were however in discussions with Public Health England, Dominic Harrison at Blackburn with Darwen Council and the EFL and hoped to progress an initiative around a trial of returning fans being tested twice in the week leading up to a home game.

In the meantime a testing centre was to be set up in the Darwen End classroom spaces and the club had also offered the ground as a mass vaccination centre.

LT confirmed that everything was in place to allow fans back as soon as possible and everything could be set up in 48 hours. A video was planned to walk fans through what they would experience.

MG asked if any plans were in place to keep Rovers fans engaged whilst unable to attend games. A return of fans still seemed a long time away and he was concerned that many might decide not to come back when possible. He suggested that Fans Forum members could be used to help work on ideas for fan engagement and SW agreed that this would be useful. He stated that the club were looking at developing plans for three strands of which fan engagement was one. The others were retail, which was one of a limited number of income streams the club currently had and the community plan.

JL had heard rumours that the ground was not being considered for use as a testing or vaccination centre due to the lack of disabled access. LT replied that she had not heard these rumours and that they were categorically untrue.

4. Huddersfield Away Stream for Season Ticket Holders

TS asked what had happened with the last minute change regarding free access to the iFollow feed of the away game at Huddersfield for season ticket holders. SW stated that it was an EFL decision that the club could do nothing about, so he had decided that the best option was to provide a £10 credit against 2021/22 season tickets for any season ticket holder who had paid. 5. January Transfer Window & Player Contract Renewals

SW stated that the intensity of the season had exacerbated injuries at the club. It was pleasing that Bradley Dack and were back playing and that and were back in training. But the loss of and Derek Williams, both left-sided centre backs, to long term injuries meant that the priority in the January transfer window was for centre backs. Tylor Magloire had been recalled from his loan at Hartlepool and he expected at least one and maybe a second centre back would be recruited in this window. Recruitment was however proving difficult as all clubs were concerned about losing players because of the virus and the increasing numbers of injuries across all of football.

TS asked whether there was any anxiety at the club at the recent loss of form and poor results. SW replied that there would be no knee jerk reactions to the situation but he recognised that football was very much a results-based industry. He expected that at least 75 points could be needed to get a play-off place and that would require another 43 points from 23 games, which would mean the team having a consistent and sustained run of wins over the second half of the season.

SM asked whether there were any plans to get cover in case Adam Armstrong picked up a serious injury. SW replied that the club had invested heavily in forward options with Sam Gallagher and being the two most expensive signings along with Armstrong. The club also had a plethora of attacking midfielders. The club continued to search the market with targets identified by the recruitment team. The club were also alive to the possibility of offers coming in for players in the current squad, although no formal offers had been received to date.

PB asked whether the owners were not disappointed with the lack of improvement in results given their financial outlay. SW replied that of course the owners are disappointed when the team loses but they have helped to develop a good squad and they remained supportive.

CL stated that many poor results seem to have been the result of simple mistakes and that these were costing the team more than injuries. SW replied that he couldn’t argue with that and that defensive errors needed addressing something and his coaching staff continue to work hard on improving the defensive aspect of our team.

In response to JL asking whether Profit & Sustainability was having an effect on recruitment SW stated that there is still a requirement for all clubs to try and stay within the P&S rules and it needed to be taken into account.

6. Undercover Seating for Disabled Fans JL asked whether there had been any progress in plans to offer undercover seating for disabled fans, which had been being considered before the pandemic. SW replied that there were still plans to provide a solution. There were two options and he suggested that JL come in to have a look when able to.

7. Fans Consultation Meeting

TS asked whether there was an update on future fans consultation meetings. LT replied that the club were committed to holding two meetings before the end of June but that it was clearly difficult to do for a large number of people online. JW suggested that the club use an online event where fans put questions in advance which were then answered by club reps at an online event where fans could not directly contribute but could ask supplementary questions.

8. Live Streaming Under 23 Games

TS stated that he had enjoyed watching some Rovers Under 23 games on live feeds provided by the opposing team recently and wondered whether the club could offer the same to fans. SW replied that the club were already discussing this matter and hoped to have a trial set up over the coming weeks.

10. Any Other Business

• ND asked how well the iFollow streams were going. SW replied that the take-up had varied but the best had been about 2,800 for a weekend game. At £8.33 profit this provided a useful source of income. Other clubs had produced audiences between 6,000 and 7,000 but that has always been the case. • SM asked whether the club shop would be getting any new stock in. SW stated that stock was beginning to get low and that new orders would be placed soon. He also expected some good promotional offers on remaining Umbro stock as the current deal comes to an end this season. • PB asked what arrangements are being made to replace Umbro as kit supplier. SW stated that this was in hand. • MK asked what was happening with Junior Rovers, as he had not seen anything in recent months. SW admitted that contact had not been as good as it should have been during the pandemic and stated that this would shortly over the second half of the season.

9. Dates of Next Meetings

th 8 March 2021 th 10 May 2021 12th July 2021 13th September 2021 8th November 2021

Members should contact John Wareing at [email protected] or 07984 085474 to give their apologies if they cannot attend a meeting.

Any fan who wishes to see an item on the agenda should contact John Wareing at least a week in advance of the meeting by email or phone as above.